CES 2020: Arlo Debuts New Wire-Free Pro 3 Floodlight Camera

[kis]

I started my smart home setup with Amazon Echos, a Nest thermostat, Blink cameras, and a Ring doorbell and Ring Floodlight cam. Shortly after I installed my Nest thermostat, Google purchased Nest.

I am a big fan of the Homekit ecosystem because of Apple's emphasis on privacy and I have now replaced all my Echos with HomePods, my Blink cameras with Homekit compatible Eufy 2C cameras w/ local storage (soon to be Homekit Secure Video compatible) and an Ecobee 3 Lite (no Alexa) thermostat. My next project is to replace my Ring Doorbell and Floodlight cam as soon as Eufy (or someone else) releases a Homekit compatible versions. From now on I am not buying any IoT devices unless they are truly Homekit compatible (not just an iOS app).

The Eufy cameras are insanely expensive
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Then don’t use any cameras whatsoever. Law enforcement can request anything they want. So if you’re afraid of requests, just don’t even use any cameras.

I’ve moved from Nest to a setup consisting of Reolink cameras and a Synology Rackstation with the surveillance package. Works like a charm, only runs locally and I’m finally compliant with Swiss law (which says that you need to erase your footage every 24 hours unless something has happened). They can request anything they want - any footage that’s older than 24 hours is gone

 

[DoctorTech]

The Eufy cameras are insanely expensive

Blink XT2 cameras appear to be the cheapest major brand cameras right now. You can pick up a pair of them on Amazon (who owns Blink) for just $180 but they do not have the LED light built into them like the Eufy 2C. The Eufy 2C is on sale right now on Amazon for $200 for a pair (regular price is $240 per pair). In comparison, a pair of refurbed Arlo Pro cameras on Amazon cost $200 or a pair of new Arlo Pro 2 cameras will cost you $288. Specs (resolution, battery life, features) vary from camera to camera but I would consider all of these cameras to be roughly equivalent in terms of functionality.

While Eufy costs more than Blink, I would not consider them to be insanely expensive even at their regular price. They seem pretty competitive compared to Arlo. A lot of people probably don't care that much about where their video is stored (local storage vs Amazon's cloud vs someone else's cloud). That is a very personal decision that everyone has to make depending on their level of trust / distrust about who may gain access to their video feed and for what purpose. For me, I am willing to pay a premium up front for local storage (soon to be Homekit Secure Video compatible) but again, that is a very personal decision. As soon as Eufy releases a doorbell cam and floodlight cam that are Homekit Secure video compatible I plan to replace my Ring doorbell and floodlight cams.